


Parodia

by Mangoojuice



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Florist AU, Flower Language, Fluff, MiHyun, Short n sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:14:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27200263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mangoojuice/pseuds/Mangoojuice
Summary: Dahyun is just your normal florist working in a breathtaking shop, and Mina falls in love just like that.But Dahyun likes to play, and offers her a deal before anything else...
Relationships: Kim Dahyun/Myoui Mina
Comments: 6
Kudos: 90





	Parodia

**Author's Note:**

> just a random google doc draft i found after a year lmao

Mina didn’t mean to drop the flower pot from the window, didn’t want to watch it drop 3 floors, didn't expect to clench her jaw and wince as the pot almost fell on a passerby walking on the sidewalk when she woke up this morning. 

But there she was anyway, apologizing profusely to the old man who probably thought he had just escaped death - she kept nodding at whatever he had to say, scolding her after the fright, but eventually left her alone, and she looked down at the plant with a heavy sigh. 

The pot was completely smashed, in pieces at her feet, dirt scattered all around - the plant’s leaves were torn, in a very bad shape, and it made Mina worry a lot. From the state of it, she would never be able to put back in place like it was supposed to. Which was very, very bad, considering her roommate’s commitment for the plant. 

Their green friend had been there since they started living together, had basically seen their friendship blossom, the arguments, the good times, the redoractions, break ups, hookups, everything. And now it was dead at her feet. 

From her point of view, keeping it alive for 3 years was already a lot and she would say that it had lived a perfect life, until the fall. But that wouldn’t be Jihyo’s mindset, of course. So she picked up what remained of the plant and went back up to her place, thinking really hard about what she could do before her roommate would be back. 

She looked up flower shops, of course - but it was clear she would not have the time to visit each one of them around the town before the end of the day, and she had to find the exact same plant Jihyo loved so much. From the looks of it, it was some kind of cactus, and browsing through the flower shops' catalogues told her that none were fit to sell her what she was looking for. 

She was willing to look for specialized cacti shops or whatever these are called, but nothing popped up on her screen, and she wasn’t feeling like searching every type of cactus online. Talk about lazy. It was supposed to be a chill, relaxing Saturday ! Not a day to worry about plants !

It felt like she was in a dead end until she remembered a very random, but much helpful event from a few weeks ago ; she was out with Jihyo, the two friends looking for a place to eat around their neighborhood, when they stumbled upon a colorful store with an incredibly strong but sweet smell coming from it. The front windows were hidden by incredibly tall and various plant, but when they tried to go inside, the sign on the door told them that the place was closed. 

Mina remembered Jihyo saying they would come there another time, but they never did. 

Mina, convinced that she had the miracle she was looking for, carefully put wat was remaining of the plant in a plastic bag and headed to the shop - she almost dropped the poor plant again, as she hurriedly went down the stairs, 2 steps by 2. 

She was thankful for her good sense of direction, and didn’t struggle too much to find the place again.This time, the colorful plants and flowers were lit up by little lightbulbs that were hanging around them. The door was wide open, revealing a much bigger store than she had expected. 

She carefully stepped in, plant close to her chest, and stopped on the doormat for a moment. 

It felt like she had entered a whole new planet - the roof wasn’t a roof, but glass instead, allowing sunlight to pour in on the various plants that were growing everywhere around her, from small trees to impressive cactus, to the simplest of flowers ; she could hear the faint sound of water, and looked down to notice a little water trail making its way all around the place. 

She walked a bit further, looking up at the hanging pots, only to stop when something popped up on her right. She couldn’t help but gasp when a little white dog settled on the counter, give her a soft bark as a greeting. 

“Oh my, aren’t you cute,” she reached for the dog’s head, who happily let her pat it. “Do you know where the owner of this place is, by any chance ?” 

“Over here !” 

Mina couldn’t help but suddenly feel silly as a feminine voice raised from somewhere behind her, embarrassment from getting caught by a stranger speaking to a pet like washing over her, and she quietly swore before turning around

“Hi, I’m sorry I didn’t come to you sooner, needed to feed the piranha plants,” a young woman appeared from behind the plants, gloves and gardening tools in hand, and Mina noticed the small dirt stain on her cheeks at the same time as she thought that wow, that fading away blue hair color is stunning. “I see you’ve met Ari, the best assistant around here. My name is Dahyun, can I help you with anything ?”

She leaned nonchalantly over the counter, tools disposed of, resting her elbow on the wooden area, looking at Mina with a bright smile - it was a bit much to take in, the place, the girl, the fact that Jihyo might kill her in her sleep tonight, and she took a few seconds to react. 

“Hi, yes, uh,” she opened the bag, showing Dahyun the poor state of the plant. “I accidentally pushed this over the window edge earlier, and it didn’t appreciate the fall. Could you - could you help me get another one of those ? I’m afraid my roommate will take it badly if I don’t do anything.” 

“Sure, hold on,” Dahyun reached for the plant, lifting it up to get a better look. “This is called an astrophytum asterias, or star cactus, if you prefer. They originally come from Mexico or from the US, texas, I think. Follow me.” 

Dahyun turned around, and Mina followed her to the deeper part of the shop, still flooded by sunlight, Ari following close behind. 

“You gave this buddy a very nice treatment, the flower bloomed really beautifully, good job.” they stopped in front of a large variety of cacti, and dahun reached for a stool to reach one of the highest ones, after setting down the poor soul Mina brought in. 

“I’ll let my friend take the credit, I don't have much of a green hand,” Mina answered, fingertips gently feeling the flowers resting on the side. 

“Anyone can take care of a plant if they love it enough,” the plant taker said as she handed out a new, lively star cactus to Mina. “there we go, your new best friend. The other one’s pot was white, correct ? I can give you one of my left overs pot, if you would like.”

“That would be very helpful, thank you.” 

Dahyun gestured for Mina to go back at the counter before disappearing behind another shelf - Mina waited there with Ari, the little dog climbing up the counter with ease. The florist came back quickly, and proceeded to put the new star cactus in the brand new pot. 

“How come this place isn’t registered as a flower shop online ?”

“Probably because the owner is an old lady who doesn’t really care about that. I need to take care of it, by the way, thank you for reminding me,” Dahyun reached for a paper bag, slipping the pot inside. “We have a really faithful clientele, since we both sell plants and professional tools. The owner used to travel a lot to gather new stuff with her husband, but they’re too old, now. It’s mostly me and another guy here nowadays.” 

She handed Mina the bag, who finished paying with a smile. 

“Thank you for helping me out.” 

“No worries. Promise me you’ll take care of it ?” Mina nodded, pulling the bag under her arm. “Well then. Good luck with your roommate.” 

Mina could admit that she felt sad about leaving the shop so quickly. It seemed like a really chill place to hang out at, and Dahyun - well. Dahyun was definitely someone Mina wanted to know better. There was something about the girl that pulled her in immediately, and it wasn’t just her looks, or her smile. God, that smile. 

She got home quickly, putting the new star cactus were the old one used to be, but a bit less close to the border. She left a note next to it, for Jihyo to read in case she noticed something was different, and hopped into her home, determined to have her relaxing saturday. 

— 

“You look stupidly happy,” Jihyo said as she handed Mina a plate on their dining table. “Did something happen today ?” 

“No, just had a good day,” Mina feigned, refusing to mention the plant or Dahyun. “What about you ? how was the date with Chaeyoung ?” 

“Right,” Mina could tell Jihyo didn’t buy it, and she got into her meal instead of letting Jihyo a chance to dodge her own question. “It went great, we’re meeting up for lunch on wednesday. She’s the sweetest, kept trying embarrassingly to make everything perfect, and really, it just made her look even cuter, if you ask me.” 

“Sounds like she’s the one.”

Jihyo chuckled at her friend’s comment, and they went on with their meal, chatting about everything and anything. They ended their evening with a movie the both of them had been wanting to see for a while, and Mina thought the cactus crisis had been avoided, when Jihyo suddenly got up to get the plant. 

Mina watched as she read the note, wishing really hard that she could disappear inside their couch. Jihyo turned around, and she was expecting to get burning eyes, but the girl just gave her a smile. 

“I appreciate what you did here, but you could have just told me, you know. I wasn’t going to kill you for it,” Jihyo said with a laugh, looking back at her roommate who clearly couldn’t believe her reaction. “Stop looking at me like that, it makes me feel like a bad person ! I actually like the color of this flower better, you know. Thank you.” 

“It’s nothing. I guess i should have gotten an apology gift to the old man who almost barely missed some time in a hospital, then,” Jihyo sat back down on the couch, glad to see her friend relax again. 

“Are you implying you almost killed someone ? I thought today was a good day ?”

Mina decided to talk to Jihyo about the flower shop, because it seemed she couldn't hide a single thing from the other woman. 

—   
On Jihyo’s advice and with confidence she had no idea she had, Mina went back to the shop a few days later after work, in order to chat more with Dahyun and, maybe, ask her out on a date. ‘The worst that could happen is rejection’, Jihyo had assured, which, wasn’t actually reassuring. At all. 

She discovered the place by night, since autumn was there, winter approaching, and the sun had decided that it wanted to leave earlier. The interior was lit up by the same light bulbs as outside and a few other spots, which looked like fireflies between the tall leaves and still colorful plants scattered all around. It was a different atmosphere, but one she loved as much. 

This time, no Ari to greet her, and she decided to wait by the counter, observing the posters and pictures that were hung up on the wall behind it. There were a few post-it notes scattered on a board, with funny reminders like ‘don’t forget to feed Garry and co’, which she guessed was the piranha plants. She stopped on a light blue one that said ‘ask the name of the girl is she comes again’, and felt hope rise through her whole body. 

She prayed that this was about her, and took a deep breath when she came to her senses that, yes, you’re here now, can’t back out when Dahyun appeared before her. 

“Hey, it’s the star girl ! your roomie didn’t kill you, that’s good news. What brings you here today ?” the florist asked with a gentle smile, and Mina felt her heart melt a bit. 

“My name is Mina,” Dahyun’s face seemed to light up. “I wanted to tell you that she really liked it, its color suits her taste more, apparently, so I thought I could thank you a bit better than with just words,” she told the florist in a voice weaker than she would have liked. 

“Yeah ?”

“Yes. I wanted to know if you were free next weekend,” Mina asked, fingers fidgeting under the counter, waiting for a very clear rejection from Dahyun. The other girl simply stared at her for a moment, before something seemed to cross her mind. 

“I’ll go on a date with you if you manage to keep this parodia alive for a bit longer than a month,” Dahyun settled a plant that was resting behind her in front of Mina, an amused smile on her face. “It’s a date, right ?” 

Mina wasn’t sure what to feel. Did that mean yes ? was Dahyun ok with going out with her even just once ? what would happen if she killed the plant, if it suffered the same fate as their old cactus ? 

“Deal ?” Dahyun asked again, pushing the pot a bit closer to Mina. 

“Deal.”

She wondered if the laugh she got from Jihyo when she came home was worth the whole situation, especially when Mina blurted out that offering a flower from a cactus to someone often meant you’re sexually attracted to them in Japan. 

Mina did some quick research about the plant to know what she needed to do to keep it alive, which sounded easy on her screen - parodia didn’t like to be under direct sunlight, and they need to be watered a bit more often than usual cacti. She left it by her desk, where she knew it would receive light, but not too much during the day, a water bottle by its side. 

Sadly, Mina ended up regressing to her non plant owner state, mostly because of how busy she was during the day, and tired in the evening. The plant received perfect treatment during the first week, before slowly but surely losing Mina’s attention. It wasn’t that she didn’t think about Dahyun anymore, no, but the cactus was the last of her problems. 

Half a week later, she jumped from her bed with a cold sensation that she was forgetting something important, and clapped her hands on her mouth with a silent gasp as she took in the totally deflated flower on the parodia. 

It was all grey, having lost half of its petals and its wonderfully bright red, yellow-ish color. In a hurry, and very bad decision, she poured too much water on the dirt, and watched in terror as water started spilling all over, the dirt block somehow raising from the pot. 

She hurried to the kitchen, getting something to wipe her desk, not calming down even when the flood seemed to stop.

Mina then came into Jihyo’s room looking like a mess, holding the soaked pot like it was a dead body, tears starting to fill her eyes. The other girl understood what was going on immediately, and closed her computer quickly. 

“Hey, calm down, I’m going to help you,” she grabbed the cactus from Mina, carefully enough to not get hurt by the tiny but sharp spikes. “We need to change the soil before anything else, come on.” 

Mina followed Jihyo to the bathroom, watching as she let the plant slide out of the pot in the shower, leaving dirt everywhere. She asked for Mina to go get the green bag near the dryer, and she obliged, feeling herself relax as she read the labels on the bag. Of course Jihyo would have bought special, high quality soil for their plants, that was no surprise. 

She came back into the bathroom to see Jihyo washing the dirty pot, the cactus waiting in the shower with its roots out. Mina knew what to do from there, and waited for Jihyo to finish cleaning before putting the parodia back in and filling it with the brand new soil. 

Once they were done, Jihyo watched as Mina sat on the toilet with the plant, looking down at it with a miserable look. 

“I can’t even put up with keeping a plant alive, for God’s sake. Dahyun isn’t even going to want to see me again after this,” Mina whimpered, feeling ashamed. 

“You’re exaggerating a bit, don’t you think ?” 

Silence. A whimper.

“Listen, once you look at it with more love and less anxiety, it’ll work out. Don’t deal with it like a burden. Would you treat yourself badly if you were going through, let’s say, a really bad break up ?” Mina shook her head. “That’s right. You take your time, you pamper yourself, you distract yourself and you do your best to think about something else and move on. Same goes for the plant - it’s alive, you know ? so from now on, I want you to talk to it about your day in the evening, it should remind you to water it. And they say talking to plants helps them grow, remember that documentary you watched with me back when we started living here ?” 

“I do, it was beautiful,” Mina finally smiled again, eyes on Jihyo. 

“See ? I’m sure Dahyun guessed you have a special place for those little green monsters in your heart. So prove her right, and bring that cactus back to her in two weeks with a magnificent blooming flower, okay ?” 

“Okay,” Mina answered as she completely loosened up. “Okay.” 

— 

Jihyo’s plan worked out perfectly - for two weeks, Mina spoke to the plant, even if it was just a few words, giving it just enough water every day. She bought a book about plants, learned about flowers and their meanings, deciding exactly which bouquet she would get Dahyun if the girl really agreed to go on a date with her. 

Eventually, the flower blossomed again, followed by two others by her side. Their apartment got 3 or 4 new habitants, all very green, thick but rarely thirsty. She ran into Dahyun a few times in the city, but the girl never seemed to notice her, and she didn’t reach out either. She had a promise to keep. 

Mina also got to meet Chaeyoung, who, as it turned out, knew exactly who Dahyun was. 

“Yeah, a true botanist. She was the one taking care of the flower fields the most back in high school, it was crazy ! I keep telling her to open her own place, but she keeps refusing. Says she loves that store too much.”

“I get why, it’s a fascinating place.” 

“Have you seen the piranha plants yet ?” Mina shook her head at that question. “You better ask her next time you go there. They’re terrifying.” 

The final day came like a breeze, but under the rain, something Mina didn’t like at all until she stepped inside the shop. The sound of the water drops on the glass ceiling was particularly calming, and it turned the place into some sort of little rain forest. 

Colored light bulbs had been added to the simple ones since the last time Mina came, and if she had to pick a new favorite thing to see every day, it would be the patch of colors coming from the light covering the now very slight blue, very grey hair of Dahyun as she greeted her. 

But instead of giving her back the Parodia, Mina asked for a bouquet first, especially one with pink camellia, red carnations, gardenia and a single yellow tulip. She immediately said it was a gift for the florist once she paid for it, and the smile Dahyun gave her could easily be the best one yet. 

“I took care of your parodia, like asked. Here,” she handed it over to Dahyun, who looked at it with a satisfied and impressed look. “It went through some trouble, but I believe I followed the deal.” 

“You sure did,” the florist giggled, giving Mina the cutest eye smile face ever. “And I should follow it, too. Consider yourself lucky, you have a date.”

Mina only saw the piranha plants for the first time months later, having completely forgotten about them after her two first dates with Dahyun. After the meeting between Ari and Ray, after they learned the old owner demised the shop to Dahyun, after Jihyo started to complain that there were way too many plants in their apartment now. 

After Dahyun moved in, Chaeyoung taking Jihyo in, and after the few months old Star cactus almost suffered the same fate as the first one when Mina was helping Jihyo move out. It would turn out that when you care for flowers enough, you get quicker at catching them when they fall.

—

“Were you aware about the possible meaning of the parodia when you gave it to me ?” Mina asked when one day, as they were both in the kitchen, preparing a meal for 4, guests coming over that evening. 

“You mean, if I knew about Hanakotoba ? Cactus and lust ?” Dahyun answered like it was nothing before checking if the rise was cooking well enough.   
“The fact that you know what it’s called is already enough to give me an answer, you devil,” Mina gave her girlfriend a light push, remembering the embarrassment she had gone through back when she first got the cactus, which was now comfortably sitting by their TV. 

“You realize you could have come back right after leaving, ask me again, and I would have said yes ?” Dahyun grinned, moving meat in the pan. “I didn’t think you would actually do it, you know. I spent a whole month hoping to see you come in the shop again, and you never did. Until, well, the deadline, I guess.”

“Are you -” Mina didn’t finish her sentence, calming down the second Dahyun looked at her. 

“But I appreciated it. I guess it truly showed how much you cared, no ?” that damn eye smile again.

“I can’t believe you.” 

Mina only managed to answer, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend as the florist kept going about the silly prank and how grateful she was about Mina’s actions - a story that Chaeyoung loved to hear each time she would see her friends, and would probably keep asking about in the future, much to Mina’s dismay. 

— 

Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow  
– John Lennon

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed this silly little thing that i probably wrote when i got my heart broken last year, haha   
> you can find me on twitter @chaengspaint for more stuff and some fanarts !!   
> see y'all later, wear your mask and drink water <3


End file.
